Having never been in business for himself, Cole Sanders found himself a bit apprehensive when he opened Alba Coffee/Tea/Food, at 112 E. Baltimore St., on July 21.

"I had this gut feeling Jackson was ready for a coffee shop of this nature," Sanders said. "I wanted to create something more than the coffee people drink. It's more about the environment, but I was scared out of my mind."

A native of Corinth, Miss., Sanders and his wife, Amy, who is expecting in February, moved to Jackson in August 2012. Sanders previously worked as an information technology consultant.

"I was in IT for 10 years, but actually, I've been in and around coffee shops since the '90s," Sanders said. "And when I was in college at UNA (University of North Alabama) in Florence, Ala., my best friend opened River Town Coffee Company, and I worked in that shop while I was finishing school."

Sanders said his first visit to The Green Frog was shortly before the café was about to change owners — and names.

Although his foray into the industry wasn't exactly a career change, he became manager of The Ugly Mug Coffee Co., which opened at the East Baltimore Street location on April 7 before closing two months later.

"We stopped in right after The Green Frog closed," Sanders said. "They were successful and had good ideas, but there were lessons to be learned."

There were also possibilities.

"I grew up in Corinth, and I grew up as a downtown person," Sanders said. "We (he and Amy) go home, and we see downtown. I want to be a part of the revitalization of downtown Jackson."

Sanders sees the pieces coming together downtown, even after the area took a step backward when the Ugly Mug closed.

"That formula wasn't working," Sanders said. "The store was closing, but the opportunity was there to rebuild and rebrand this thing.

"It was something I was most familiar with, something I was familiar with a decade ago."

The setting is inviting, and the café is staffed with 10 employees, including Sanders.

Before customers become familiar with those items, Sanders has enlisted the help of a pair of heavy hitters in the restaurant industry — Memphians Mac Edwards and Jennifer Dickerson — as consultants.

Locals might recognize Edwards, who owned McEwen's on Monroe Avenue in downtown Memphis before opening The Elegant Farmer on South Highland near the University of Memphis campus, and Dickerson is a chef.

"We're here to help Cole do better food," Edwards said. "Coffee is love and fellowship, and we want to put the same in the food."

Dickerson was looking to get a feel for the café before offering ideas.

The passion Sanders had for the business began with the name he chose for the café.

"Alba is Italian for dawn," Sanders said. "We thought about sunrise and calm mornings, and in a perfect world, you sit on your front porch with a cup of coffee and watch the sun rise."

Buy Photo

(Photo:
DAVID THOMAS/The Jackson Sun
)

Sanders was just as thorough when selecting the coffee he would offer from a Nashville-based coffee company.

"Bongo Java," Sanders said. "They roast all of our coffee for us, and we have a very good relationship with those guys. They actually deliver straight to the door, and we've got it down to one order a week, but we've been burning through a lot more coffee."

Sanders added, "We also get our pastries from their Fido location, one of several Bongo Java restaurants. We call, put in an order, they overnight it, and we have it the next day."

Sanders said he believes Alba is the only location in the area offering Bongo Java.

"They are serious about the taste and where they purchase their coffee from," Sanders said. "Me being a coffee nerd myself, a light roast coffee from Bongo is a really, really full-flavor profile."

Once school is back in session, Sanders said nightly hours will be extended.

"There is a groundswell of excitement of what's going on downtown," Sanders said. "We hope we can be a part of the family, especially at night. Eventually, we hope to have music and shows in the lobby of The New Southern (next door) ... where people will drive downtown and make it the place to go."